Food pantries provide so many needs for the community, but there are many more needs that don’t get met. Necessities like soap, shampoo and toothpaste are all essential needs that many can’t afford. When Richie Brower, Upper Columbia Conference youth and young adults associate director, asked what the Pathfinders, a group of youth in fifth through eighth grade, could do for the Spangle, Washington, community, the bare necessities were at the top of the list.
“It started with a conversation I had with Lonnie Scott, Spangle Community Church pastor,” shared Brower. “I told him Pathfinders were coming to the area in March and May and we’d love to help with the food pantry at their church, as we have in the past. He told me that their greatest need was necessities.”
Ideas began to form and many more wanted to get involved. After much brainstorming, a friendly competition was decided upon. The Bare Necessities Drive Challenge would be Upper Columbia Academy versus Upper Columbia Academy Elementary School and Upper Columbia Academy Church combined. The contest was hosted by the Wheatland Coyotes Pathfinder Club at UCA Church, led by Cindy Williams.
Beginning Feb. 1, 2023, 13 members of the Wheatland Coyotes Pathfinder Club and 24 students at the elementary school, along with UCA church members, were up against 275 UCA students. The drive was from Feb. 1–15 with the goal of collecting as many household, cleaning or personal hygiene items as they could. After the contest, the items would be donated to the food pantries in the area.
Everyone was excited to get started, but to make the challenge more enticing, the group that collected the most personal hygiene items — 100 unit minimum — would win a prize of $500 offered by UCC's youth department for their class or school fund.
“Partway through the contest, we heard a rumor that the sophomore class had hundreds of items,” shared Lorna Hartman, UCAES administrative assistant. “We kept on working because you never know about rumors.”
As the 15 days came to an end, the items were collected and counted. On Feb. 22, the winning team was awarded the $500 prize after collecting 705 items. The Wheatland Coyotes Pathfinder Club and UCAES, supported by UCA Church, won.
“The team worked hard and won,” shared Hartman. “We are thankful for everyone’s donations that made it happen, and we salute the other teams and their donations as well.”
Overall, 1,051 items were collected. “It was exciting to see all the items collected and to think how many people will be blessed by them,” said Cindy Williams, Wheatland Pathfinder Club director. “We are distributing them to three food pantries — Fairfield, Spangle and Better Living Center in Spokane. We would like to do another necessities drive in the future.”
Photo post awards ceremony of UCA Elementary School students with the $500 prize. L-R: Malachi Hardy, Amadea Nemnich, Metao Tippett, and Micah Brower.
Participants of the Bare Necessities Drive pause from counting and organizing donations to take a photo.
